


Movement in the canopy is a conversation (and there's a little girl in the undergrowth)

by Eirlys95, Sasstenance



Category: Naruto
Genre: Forests, Gen, Konohagakure | Hidden Leaf Village, Little ghost girl living in the woods, Mokuton, One Shot, Sentient Forest, Tenzo there's no such thing as ghosts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:15:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22771606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eirlys95/pseuds/Eirlys95, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sasstenance/pseuds/Sasstenance
Summary: They don't believe him, but -There's a ghost in the woods.
Kudos: 12





	Movement in the canopy is a conversation (and there's a little girl in the undergrowth)

There’s a ghost in the woods.

No one believes him.

But he's seen it.

* * *

If you were to ask anybody, they’d tell you a forest is alive. And they’d be right. 

They just don’t know how right they are.

They don’t know about the one hundred and fourth hospital room, housing an elderly inpatient who cannot hear, see, touch, or smell. They don’t know about a hospital inpatient who once provided vital surveillance during a key conflict in the Second War, but who paid a permanent price for his methods.

Few of the hospital staff are aware that this man does see. Hear. Touch. Smell. It’s been many years since he’s done so with his own body’s senses. He can’t feel his hospital bed. He  _ can _ feel the wind in the canopy. He can’t smell the disinfectant or the flowers. He  _ can _ smell the earthen soil. He can’t hear the nurses. He  _ can _ hear the rivers and streams. He can’t see his sisters and now adult children by his bedside. 

He  _ can  _ see the little girl living in the undergrowth. 

* * *

When she first came here, lots of people ran through as though they were looking for something. The forest would be crawling with people. 

None of them saw her. 

And now they’re all gone. 

Sometimes she wonders how long she’s been in the forest, but she doesn’t think it matters. The forest was here before her. The forest will be here afterward. Ruthlessly, the inhabitants here will kill, eat, injure and poison. And yet - 

She has yet to find an inch of unkindness. The forest provides her shelter, her water, her food and her safety. 

No one has  _ ever _ seen her in the forest. Sometimes she thinks she must be invisible. An invisible girl living in the woods. Something tells her that’s not right. But what else could it be? She’s right here. She’s only metres away. She doesn’t really want to be found, but she can’t help the curiosity. She steps closer. Shuffles her feet noisily against the ground.

The children playing in their little fake house still can’t see her. 

She looks up to her left. There’s one of the Old Trees. All of the trees are kind, but these are the kindest. The sturdiest, the biggest, the safest. 

That must be it. She nods to the tree.

_ “Thank you,”  _ she whispers, and turns back the way she came. When she hears how the leaves in the canopy rustle louder than the wind should allow - 

She smiles.

* * *

Tenzo comes here often. He comes here almost every time he has a break from work. A lull in the business, enforced time off, injury or just in the short time between jobs.

He can't find peace anywhere else, not really. There’s a type of quiet understanding and acceptance that comes with Konoha’s forests. Not everyone gets it, but he knows he’s not the only person who does.

Today is different than usual, somehow. Like the forest is tense. Holding its breath or - or -

Like something is watching him.

He whips his head to the left. Just a bush. If he were anywhere else, he’d be on his guard no matter what, but here... This deep in the forest’s belly? No one comes here. Just about anybody except for Tenzo would be lost at this point. It must be his imagination. 

Just like that little girl in the tree there, or -

_ Wait - _

He spins around, as quickly as his feet can turn him and - 

No, it’s just… it’s just the tree.

Just a tree. 

He doesn’t really believe himself. The little pale face he sees peering out from a bush in his peripheral vision - only to disappear once he properly looks - as he leaves the forest, hours later, only confirms this.

* * *

“There’s something in the woods.”

“I think you’ve had enough to drink, Tenzo.”

* * *

“You’re going out?”

“Yeah.”

“Where to?”

“Forest. I’m going to find her this time, senpai.”

“Who?”

“The little girl in the woods.”

* * *

“There’s no one in the woods, Tenzo. That place is hostile enough for adult shinobi.”

“There is. There’s a little ghost girl.”

“There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

* * *

It’s been nearly two full days. He’s spent his time in the clearing designing a little garden with everything from potted sprouts to seeds to his own mokuton. His work is interspersed every now and then by calling out as softly as he can without lowering his voice to a whisper.

“Hey? Little girl? It’d be really nice to meet you, if you’d come out and say hi.”

“You don’t wanna help me here? You know it can be a lot of fun growing a garden like this even if it’s small.” 

“Little ghost? Are you there?”

“Little ghost?”

“Hello?”

A rustle behind him. He smiles and turns slowly, so as not to startle her. He holds out a hand; resting on it is a flower perfectly shaped out of wood.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Tenzo. Do you have a name, Little Ghost?”

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on an OC story idea Eirlys95 had and developed/brainstormed with me. We may or *may not* expand on it, bc theres,, a lot more to it but for now this is it.
> 
> Big thanks to [Vaimeta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vaimeta/pseuds/Vaimeta) for being my beta she's really a godsend.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
